1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to modular office furniture, and, more particularly, to an electrical receptacle within a modular office furniture environment.
2. Description of the Related Art
Modular wall panel systems are used extensively in commercial and industrial settings to define workspace, provide privacy, control traffic flow, and minimize noise. Wall panel systems can also provide suitable structures for use with desks, tables, shelves, trays and the like as well as with other furniture, components, equipment and material such as may be used in a commercial or industrial setting. In addition, wall panel systems can be advantageously integrated into the design and decoration of a commercial or industrial setting.
Wall panel systems may include individual wall panel units of various types and sizes. Wall panel units may be full height floor-to-ceiling walls or may be walls of less than floor-to ceiling height, or may include a combination of such walls of varying heights. Wall panel units may totally enclose or only partially enclose specific areas depending upon the particular needs of the site. An advantage of wall panel systems of this type is that they can be reconfigured relatively easily compared to permanent wall structures (such as studs and drywall, plaster, or concrete).
In using wall panel systems, it is essential to provide electricity to workstations located in and around the wall panel units. Present demands for electrical power consumption may require the provision of several circuits through a wall panel system. Present demands may even require the use of one or more isolated circuits that do not share a neutral or ground wire with other circuits in order to minimize electrical interference that might cause problems for computer or communication systems. Accordingly, it is desirable that an electric distribution system be provided with the wall panel system that is easy to install yet provides a high level of electrical service.
Related to the feature of ease of installation is reconfigurability. Wall panel systems may be preferred over permanent wall structures because of the relative ease with which such systems can be reconfigured to adapt to the needs of a changing or expanding business. In particular, where a wall panel system is of high quality and durable, it is possible that at some point during the use of the wall panel system, the user's need will change and a reconfiguration of the wall panel system will be desired. In such a case, it is advantageous to have an electrical distribution system that can also be easily reconnected and reconfigured at the user's site either in the event of a reconfiguration of the wall panel system or in order to provide a different level of electric service to an existing wall panel system.
These office furniture units preferably include an electrical power distribution system of some type. Such power distribution systems preferably provide electrical power to the various workstations for typewriters, computers, dictating equipment, lights, clocks and other electrical appliances while still retaining flexibility in the arrangement of the furniture units. To facilitate this electrification, many furniture units include a utility raceway associated therewith in which a wiring system is housed.
Different types of electrical distribution systems are provided for use with wall panel units. One wall panel system that includes an electrical distribution system that provides electrical receptacles at the lower bottom, corners, near vertical midway and at other places of the wall panels, however these receptacles are not always conveniently located. Power receptacles may not be available as electrical and electronic devices are added, simply due to all available existing receptacles being used, among other reasons.
A wide variety of wiring systems for office furniture units are currently available. These wiring systems employ different techniques and arrangements to conduct electrical power through office furniture units and interconnect adjacent office furniture units. Versatility, durability, electrical integrity, convenience of installation, convenience in rearranging furnished units and overall safety are all important design considerations for these power distribution systems.
It is also desirable to provide a versatile power distribution system which incorporates convenience in connecting power outlets associated therewith to different power supplies. It is further desired that such distribution system fit within the limited confines of existing furniture units.
A raceway can include multiple conductors, for example eight conductors (three hot, three neutral and two ground), corresponding to multiple power circuits. These eight conductors can be terminated into a connector with eight terminals, for example. Another known modular power system is a distribution harness within the raceway that has a distribution connector connectable to multiple modular receptacles. Modular receptacles are known which include at least one connector that connects with the corresponding raceway or distribution harness connector. Since the duplex receptacle requires connection to only a single hot, a single neutral and a single ground, the receptacle connector will only have three terminals positioned in its connector to select one of the raceway power circuits.
A problem with this type of modular receptacle is that, because of the fixed terminals in its connector, the modular receptacle can only be connected to one of the power circuits in the raceway. As the modular office is reconfigured, or power needs change in other ways such as by the addition of power consuming equipment, it may be necessary to connect existing or new modular receptacles into other power circuits. An existing modular receptacle as previously discussed is limited to the power circuit selected by the location of the terminals in the receptacle connector. New modular receptacles can be added to any circuit, however, in the example described above, three different modular receptacles corresponding to the three different raceway power circuits, are required to be manufactured and stocked. As more circuits are added to the raceway more corresponding receptacles are required to be manufactured and stocked.
What is needed in the art is a single modular receptacle that can be configured and reconfigured to connect to any one of multiple power circuits in a modular furniture raceway.